Witness Called 'Final Nail' in Pelosi Case

Jan. 12, 2005 — -- Five years ago Danny Pelosi found the woman of his dreams -- the beautiful and very wealthy Generosa Ammon.

He was a blue-collar electrician working on Ammon's Manhattan townhouse. She was in the middle of a nasty divorce with her husband, Ted Ammon, a self-made millionaire.

"I thought I hit lotto. I really did," Pelosi told "Primetime" in an interview in October 2003. "What do I believe she saw in me? I was her man with a tool belt. I gave her what the rich man couldn't."

Pelosi is now serving 25 years in jail for the murder of Ted Ammon, and this week, a new witness may have sealed his fate.

While the Ammons fought over custody of their two adopted children, money and their lavish homes, Generosa and Pelosi lived together in a ritzy New York hotel. Pelosi says they could spy on Ted Ammon more than 100 miles away at the East Hampton estate using security cameras he'd installed in the Ammons' home.

"It was like the war of the roses; they fought over everything," Pelosi said.

In 2001, it seemed like the fighting might finally be over. The Ammons agreed on a $25 million settlement -- on one condition: Generosa couldn't live with anyone for three years, including Pelosi.

But a day before they were to sign the agreement Ted Ammon turned up dead -- brutally beaten to death in his own bedroom.

"What happened to Ted Ammon probably could have killed three men let alone one. That's how brutal this was," said Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Janet Albertson, who prosecuted the case.

Instead of getting less than half of Ammon's fortune, Generosa got his entire estate. Soon after, she married Pelosi, and the couple found themselves under investigation.

Generosa would later die of breast cancer. Three years after the murder, Pelosi stood trial alone and maintained his innocence.

There wasn't a lot of physical evidence tying Pelosi to the murder, but Albertson said that what she did have was a motive -- and Pelosi's inability to keep his mouth shut on and off the witness stand.

Several witnesses testified that Danny had confessed to the murder.

"I have to say, he certainly is his own worst enemy. Without those witnesses we probably wouldn't have brought the case," Albertson said.

Shortly after he testified on his own behalf, Pelosi was convicted of murder in 2004 and he's now serving 25 years-to-life in jail.

It had always been a circumstantial case, with no witnesses and lots of questions -- until this week.

About to face trial for his possible involvement in the murder, Pelosi's buddy, Chris Parrino, testified on Monday that he drove with Pelosi to Ted Ammon's home the night of the murder. He said that Pelosi planned to confront Ammon about the divorce.

Parrino says he saw Pelosi run from the East Hampton home that night, his clothes covered in blood, saying he got in a fight with Ammon and may have killed him.

In return for his plea deal, Parrino is expected to receive a six-month jail term.

Albertson now thinks they have put the "final nail in the coffin."

But Pelosi's attorney, Gerald Shargel, has said Parrino's testimony is full of holes and his client still plans to appeal.

As Shargel says: "Danny Pelosi has more lives than a cat."